The United States of America began as a colony of the Kingdom of Britain. The first immigrants to this "New World" were Britons. One of the largest groups to arrive came from Scotland. This is the story of a migration, told through the experience of William Gregory, and the two places at each end of his journey; Kilmarnock in Lowland Scotland, and Alexandria, Virginia in America. William Gregory, left his family's carpet factory in Kilmarnock in 1807. He boarded a wooden sailing ship and sailed to America. William found work and a home in Alexandria, Virginia. Letters written home to his family in Kilmarnock and letters to America tell the story of this migration.